Einer der finalen Schritte in Simulationen von Gitter Quantenchromodynamik (QCD) oder Gittereichtheorie ist die Kontinuumsextrapolation, um die eigentliche Kontinuumsphysik zu extrahieren. Diese Extrapolation beruht stark auf Annahmen über die asymptotische Abhängigkeit vom Gitterabstand, was zu systematischen Unsicherheiten des Kontinuumslimes führt. In klassischen Feldtheorien ist die asymptotische Form schlicht eine Potenzreihe im Gitterabstand, wobei die führende Potenz von der gewählten Diskretisierung auf dem Gitter abhängt. Die Quantenkorrekturen in Gitter QCD und Gittereichtheorie brechen dieses Verhalten. Für asymptotisch freie Theorien wie Gitter QCD werden die ganzzahligen Potenzen im Gitterabstand mit einer Potenz der laufenden Kopplung multipliziert. Die führenden Potenzen in der Kopplung lassen sich wiederum aus den anomalen Dimensionen von höher-dimensionalen Operatoren bestimmen, die eine Basis für eine Symanzik Effektiven Feldtheorie bilden. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden die führenden Potenzen in der Kopplung für die Wilson oder Ginsparg-Wilson (GW) Wirkung bestimmt, die für spektrale Größen wie Hadronmassen beitragen. Die untere Schranke des Spektrums dieser Potenzen liegt nahe null für Gitter QCD mit Wilson oder GW Quarks, weshalb keine Probleme durch eine verschlechterte Konvergenz zum Kontinuumslimes zu erwarten sind. Allerdings ist das Spektrum der führenden Potenzen sehr dicht. Dadurch lässt sich der Operator der minimalen Basis mit dominierendem Beitrag zu den Gitterartefakten schlecht bestimmen und ein kompliziertes Zusammenspiel der verschiedenen Beiträge zu den Gitterartefakten ist möglich. Nun, da die führenden Korrekturen der Gitterwirkungen mit Wilson und GW Quarks zur klassischen Potenz im Gitterabstand bekannt sind, sollten diese für die Kontinuumsextrapolation genutzt werden, sowohl für den Ansatz der Extrapolationsfunktion als auch als Orientierungshilfe, um die inhärente systematische Unsicherheit des Kontinuumslimes abzuschätzen. / One of the final steps in simulations of lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) or lattice pure gauge theory is the continuum extrapolation to extract the actual continuum physics. This extrapolation relies heavily on assumptions regarding the asymptotic dependence on the lattice spacing, which introduces an inherent systematic uncertainty to the continuum limit. In classical field theories the asymptotic form is a power series in the lattice spacing, where the leading power depends on the chosen lattice discretisation. The quantum nature of lattice QCD and lattice pure gauge theory spoils this behaviour. For asymptotically free theories like lattice QCD the integer powers in the lattice spacing are multiplied by an additional power in the running coupling. The leading powers in the coupling can be determined from the anomalous dimensions of higher dimensional operators, which form a minimal basis of a Symanzik Effective theory. The scope of this thesis is to compute the leading powers in the coupling for the Wilson or Ginsparg-Wilson (GW) action relevant for spectral quantities like hadron masses. The lower bound of these powers is close to zero for lattice QCD with Wilson or GW quarks such that no problems from a reduced convergence towards the continuum limit are to be expected. However the spectrum of leading powers is very dense. The operator of the minimal basis with dominant contributions to the lattice artifacts is thus hard to determine and complicated interplay of the contributions from the various operators is possible. Now the leading corrections from lattice actions with Wilson or GW quarks to the classical power in the lattice spacing are known and should be used when performing the continuum extrapolation both through explicit use in the fit ansatz and as an orientation to estimate the systematic uncertainty inherent to the continuum limit.

Lien vers le GitHub contenant tous les outils programmés dans le cadre du mémoire : https://github.com/neurok8050/eda-optimisation-processing-tool / L’activité électrodermale (EDA), particulièrement la skin conductance response (SCR), est un signal psychophysiologique fréquemment utilisé en recherche en psychologie et en neuroscience cognitive. L’utilisation de l’EDA entraîne son lot de défis particulièrement son prétraitement. En effet, encore très peu de recherches effectuent un prétraitement adéquat. Notre objectif est donc de promouvoir l’utilisation du prétraitement du signal SCR et de proposer des recommandations pour les chercheurs en fournissant des données sur l’impact du prétraitement sur la capacité à discriminer les SCR entre deux conditions expérimentales. En utilisant des travaux similaires, nous avons testé les effets de combinaisons de prétraitement utilisant différentes méthodes de filtrage, différentes méthodes de remise à l’échelle, l’inclusion d’une étape de détection automatique des artefacts de mouvement et en utilisant différentes métriques opérationnalistes (le peak-scoring (PS) et l’aire sous la courbe (AUC)) et d’approches par modèle. Enfin, nous avons testé si une seule combinaison de filtrage pourrait être utilisée avec différents jeux de données ou si le prétraitement devrait plutôt être ajusté individuellement à chaque jeu de données. Nos résultats suggèrent que 1) l’inclusion d’une étape de détection automatique des artefacts de mouvements n’affecte pas significativement la capacité à discriminer entre deux conditions expérimentales, 2) l’approche par modèle semble être un peu meilleure à discriminer entre deux conditions expérimentales et 3) la meilleure combinaison de prétraitement semble variée en fonction du jeu de données utilisé. Les données et outils présentés dans ce mémoire devraient permettre de promouvoir et faciliter le prétraitement du signal SCR. / Electrodermal activity (EDA), particularly the skin conductance response (SCR) is a psychophysiological signal frequently used in research in psychology and in cognitive neuroscience. Nevertheless, using EDA comes with some challenges notably in regard to its preprocessing. Indeed, very few research teams adequately preprocess their data. Our objective is to promote the implementation of SCR preprocessing and to offer some recommendations to researchers by providing some data on the effect of preprocessing on the SCR ability to discriminate between two experimental conditions. Based on similar work, we have tested the effect of preprocessing combinations using different filtering methods, different rescaling methods, the inclusion of an automatic motion detection step while using different operationalist metrics (peak-scoring (PS) and area under the curve (AUC)) and different model-based approach metrics. Finally, we tested if only one combination could be used across different datasets or if the preprocessing should be optimized individually to each dataset. Our results show that 1) the inclusion of the automatic motion detection step did not significantly impact the ability to discriminate between two experimental conditions, 2) the model-based approach seems to be slightly better at discriminating between two experimental conditions and 3) the best combination of preprocessing seems to vary between different datasets. The data and tools presented in this master thesis should promote and facilitate SCR signal preprocessing.

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Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are today two common ways to expand and grow businesses. However, studies report that around 50-75% of all M&A transactions fail to yield expected results. This study focuses on the value creation realized in the post merger integration. During the post merger integration, organizational structures, IT systems and work routines need to change and integrate in order to achieve the desired synergies. Often when processes need to change or new ways of working are implemented, artifacts are utilized to facilitate the change. However, managers often fail to recognize the social perspective of organizational change. This study analyzes how a warehouse management system was used in a post merger integration to drive organizational change and establishing a common way of working between employees from different companies. The researchers have conducted a case study at a private equity firm that recently acquired and merged six companies in the fast moving consumer goods industry. As part of the case study, interviews and observations were made. This thesis presents two main results. First, that the choice to adopt a system-first-approach and neglecting human and task integration in the PMI resulted in several obstacles. The case company focused solely on system integration to realize the most obvious synergies of the different companies. This caused employee resistance and lack of trust and confidence towards managers and their intentions. It also yielded an ungiving and unhelping culture between employees that previously belonged to different companies. This indicates the importance of mixing employees from different companies after the merger. Moreover, the importance of creating cultural-unity under one brand is discussed. The results indicate that there should be a balance between human integration and task integration when merging several companies. Consequently, we present a two-by-two matrix that outlays the dependency of company characteristics on integration focus. Secondly, managers at the case company put too much faith and emphasis on artifacts and systems to change organizational behavior and neglected the perspective of sociomaterialism. This resulted in a failed implementation of the warehouse management system due to neglecting the employees’ perspective and ways of working. As a result, employees developed workarounds to the system and later abandoned the system. Consequently, managers should have adopted a technochange perspective when driving organizational change with IT systems. This means that the implementation of an IT system should be consider in conjunction with employees and their routines. / Fusioner och förvärv är två vanliga metoder som idag används av företag för att växa och ta nya marknadsandelar. Trots detta visar studier att 50-75% av alla förvärv misslyckas med att realisera förväntade synergier. Denna uppsats fokuserar på värdeskapandet som sker i integrationsfasen efter sammanslagningen. Under integrationsfasen integreras IT system, arbetsprocesser samt organisationsstrukturer för att realisera synergier. I samband med att företag ändrar på arbetsrutiner brukar artefakter användas för att stödja förändringsarbetet. Denna uppsats studerar hur företag kan använda sig av IT system under integrationsfasen för att driva förändring samt för att etablera ett gemensamt arbetssätt hos anställda med olika företagsbakgrunder. Denna uppsats är skriven tillsammans med ett riskkapitalbolag som tidigare köpt upp och slagit ihop sex företag inom industrin för snabbrörliga konsumentvaror. Som en del av fallstudien utfördes intervjuer och observationer på portföljbolaget. I denna uppsats presenteras två huvudresultat. Det första; bristen av fokus på integration av anställda från olika bolag ger upphov till motstånd och lågt förtroende till beslutsfattande. Det resulterade även i en fientlig och icke-hjälpande kultur mellan anställda med olika företagsbakgrunder. Resultaten påvisar vikten av att blanda anställda från olika företag i nya arbetssätt för att skapa tillhörighet och hjälpsamhet. Resultaten indikerar också att det är viktigt att ha ett gemensamt varumärke som alla anställda kan ställa sig bakom. Därför diskuteras balansen mellan integrering av anställda samt processer i en sammanslagning. I uppsatsen presenterar vi en två-gånger-två matris för att illustrera förhållandet mellan ett företags industriella karaktärsdrag samt integreringsfokus. Det andra huvudresultat visar att ledning samt styrelse hade för stort förtroende på artefakter för att förändra organisationellt beteende, det sociomaterilaistiska perspektivet följdes inte. Detta resulterade i en misslyckad implementering av ett IT system som ämnade att förändra beteendet hos anställda och realisera synergier. Anledningen hänvisas till försummelsen av de anställdas perspektiv samt arbetssätt. Detta resulterade i att de anställda utvecklade egna lösningar och i ett senare skede slutade använda systemet helt och hållet. Följaktligen borde företaget ha anammat ett “technochange” perspektiv för att driva förändring genom IT system inom företaget. Detta innebär att IT systemet måste ses som ett ekosystem tillsammans med anställda och arbetsprocesser, inte som ett självständigt system.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och bidra med kunskap kring inomhusmiljöns betydelse för barns fria lek samt vad som inspirerar till barnens lek. Studien syftar till att bidra med kunskap kring inomhusmiljön och dess erbjudanden för barns fria lek. För att få syn på detta genomfördes observationer i två olika fysiska inomhusmiljöer. För att ta reda på det har två forskningsfrågor ställts som lyder: Vad inspirerar till lek i de olika miljöerna? Hur interagerar barn i en miljö med fler respektive färre artefakterer? För att få svar på frågeställningarna används en kvalitativ metod där observation, videoinspelning, observationsschema och fältanteckningar står för insamlandet av empiriskt material. Det insamlade materialet analyseras genom en interaktionsanalys. Materialet samlades in på en förskola med barn som befann sig i en miljö med färre artefakter respektive en miljö med fler artefakter. Resultatet visar att barn hellre vistas i en miljö med fler artefakter eftersom det erbjuds fler möjligheter och val. Barn blir inspirerade av de olika valen som finns tillgngliga. Variation av lekar skapar interaktion mellan barn, miljö och artefakter. En miljö med färre artefakter är dock lika viktig för barn som inte behöver alla de olika intrycken av många olika artefakter. Barn har specifika behov vilket gör att båda miljöerna är lika viktiga för barns lek och utveckling. En variation mellan miljöerna är något barnen visar intresse för, vilket vi som blivande pedagoger, ska ha insyn i. Det kan även vara av vikt att som pedagog även sätta detta i relation till barns perspektiv eftersom barnperspektivet lätt kan ta över. / The purpose of this study is to investigate and contribute knowledge aboutthe importance of the indoor environment for children's free play and whatinspires children's play. The study aims to contribute knowledge about theindoor environment and its offerings for children's free play. To see this,observations were carried out in two different physical indoor environments.To find out, two research questions have been asked which read: Whatinspires play in the different environments? How do children interact in anenvironment with more and fewer artefacts?In order to get answers to the questions, a qualitative method is used whereobservation, video recording, observation schedule and field notes accountfor the collection of empirical material. The collected material is analyzedthrough and interaction analysis. The material was collected at a preschoolwith children who were in an environment with fewer artifacts and anenvironment with more artifacts, respectively.The result shows that children prefer to stay in an environment with moreartifacts because there are more opportunities and choices. Children areinspired by the variety of choices available. Variety of games createsinteraction between children, environment and artefacts. However, anenvironment with fewer artifacts is just as important for children who do notneed all the different impressions of different artifacts. Children havespecific needs, which means that both environments are equally importantfor children's play and development. A variation between the environmentsis something children show an interest in, which we as future educatorsshould be aware of. It may also be important as an educator to also put thisin relation to the child's perspective because the child's perspective caneasily take over.

Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) has been well established in both clinical and research settings for measurement of bone mineral density (BMD), and is becoming more widely utilized for assessment of body composition. Reliability and validity are essential factors in both applications of this technique; however, neither have been confirmed for the QDR-4500A DXA at Virginia Tech. Therefore, measurements of the whole body (WB), lumbar spine (LS), total proximal femur (TPF) and total forearm (TF) were made in a group of young-adult males and females at two time-points, 5-7 days apart. Significant differences were not found in BMD (g/cm2) at these body sites with repeated measurements by DXA. Furthermore, measures of percent body fat (%BF), lean body mass (LBM), and fat mass (FM) by DXA were reliable. Validity of %BF by DXA was assessed from comparison to single-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Significant differences were not found in measures of %BF by DXA and BIA. A second study investigated the reliability and validity of the QDR-4500A DXA in measurements of distal tibia (DT) BMD. Significant differences were not found between repeated measurements. Validity was established by a significant correlation between WB BMD and DT BMD. A third study examined the influence of navel jewelry on the accuracy of LS DXA measurements. Repeated measurements with a spine phantom revealed that both a navel ring and a barbell produced significantly greater measures of LS BMD compared to the spine phantom alone. Manual correction of navel jewelry did not eliminate BMD inaccuracies. Data from these studies confirmed that the QDR-4500A DXA at Virginia Tech was a reliable and valid device in measurement of WB, LS, TPF, TF and DT BMD, as well as %BF, LBM, and FM. In addition, effects of navel jewelry on LS BMD have been recognized. Further studies investigating the reliability and validity of DT BMD measures as well as effects of different types, gauges, and shapes of body jewelry on BMD measures in human subjects are warranted. / Master of Science

Today's smartphones and tablets use different applications and software for all sorts of purposes: communication, entertainment, fitness, to share images with each other, to keep up to date with the news and lots of different daily tasks. With the heavy usage of all these apps, it is no wonder that it comes with a few issues. Private data is stored in large quantities both on the local device and on the app-creators' servers. It is no wonder that applications advertising user secrecy and transient storage of user data. One of these applications is Snapchat, with over 500 million downloads on Google Play store, at the time of writing. Snapchat is a communication application with the niched feature that the images and messages sent, disappear once opened or after 24 hours have passed. With the illusion of privacy behind Snapchats niche it has become a breeding ground for criminal activity. The niche itself translates to a troublesome hurdle for law enforcement trying to retrieve evidence from devices of Snapchat users. This paper is aimed to investigate these issues and perform a methodology to retrieve potential evidence on a device using Snapchat to send images and messages. By performing a physical acquisition on a test device and analyzing to find artifacts pertaining to Snapchat and the test-data that was created. The method is performed on a Samsung Galaxy S4 with Android 5.0.1 running Snapchat version 10.52.3.0. Test data such as different images and messages were created and attempted to be retrieved at three points in time. First one being right after data creation. Second one after a restart and 24 hours after the data was created. And the third with 48 hours passed and the Snapchat user logged out at the time of acquisition. The acquisition resulted in the extraction of several sent images and a full text conversation between the experimental device and another party. A full video which was uploaded by the receiving user was able to be extracted even though the experimental device never actually viewed the video. The second acquisition which was made when 24h had passed gave the same results as the first one. This meant that time at least up to a day after the initial creation of the data did not have any effect on the evidence. However, when the Snapchat user was logged out from the application, the data was then unobtainable and had disappeared. Presumably Snapchat has a function which deletes personal data about the user when logged out from the application. This function might become a hurdle in law enforcement investigations where the application Snapchat is involved.

L’objectif de cette thèse a été d’analyser l’effet de l’exercice physique réalisé sur plateforme vibrante (whole-body vibration, WBV) sur l’activité musculaire des membres inférieurs, de développer des outils d’analyse méthodologiques et de proposer des recommandations pratiques d’utilisation. Deux études méthodologiques ont été menées pour identifier la méthode optimale permettant de traiter les signaux d'électromyographie de surface (sEMG) recueillis pendant la vibration et d'analyser l'influence de la méthode de normalisation de l'activité sEMG. Une troisième étude visait à mieux comprendre si les pics sEMG observés dans le spectre de puissance du signal contiennent des artéfacts de mouvement et/ou de l'activité musculaire réflexe. Les trois études suivantes avaient pour but de quantifier l’effet de la WBV sur l’activité musculaire en fonction de différents paramètres tels que, la fréquence de vibration, l'amplitude de la plateforme, une charge supplémentaire, le type de plateforme, l'angle articulaire du genou, et la condition physique du sujet. En outre, l'objectif a été de déterminer l'accélération verticale minimale permettant de stimuler au mieux l'activité musculaire des membres inférieurs. En résumé, les recherches menées au cours de cette thèse fournissent des solutions pour de futures études sur : i) comment supprimer les pics dans le spectre du signal sEMG et, ii) comment normaliser l'activité musculaire pendant un exercice WBV. Enfin, les résultats de cette thèse apportent à la littérature scientifique de nouvelles recommandations pratiques liées à l’utilisation des plateformes vibrantes à des fins d’exercice physique. / The aim of this thesis was to analyze the effect of whole-body vibration (WBV) exercise on lower limb muscle activity and to give methodological implications and practical applications. Two methodological studies were conducted that served to evaluate the optimal method to process the surface electromyography (sEMG) signals during WBV exercise and to analyze the influence of the normalization method on the sEMG activity. A third study aimed to gain insight whether the isolated spikes in the sEMG spectrum contain motion artifacts and/or reflex activity. The subsequent three investigations aimed to explore how the muscle activity is affected by WBV exercise, with a particular focus on the vibration frequency, platform amplitude, additional loading, platform type, knee flexion angle, and the fitness status of the WBV user. The final goal was to evaluate the minimal required vertical acceleration to stimulate the muscle activity of the lower limbs. In summary, the research conducted for this thesis provides implication for future investigations on how to delete the excessive spikes in the sEMG spectrum and how to normalize the sEMG during WBV. The outcomes of this thesis add to the current literature in providing practical applications for exercising on a WBV platform.

Partindo das evidencias encontradas na literatura sobre o desenvolvimento do uso de ferramentas de percussão para quebra de frutos encapsulados, propomos um projeto focalizando não apenas quando as alterações motoras aparecem, mas também na relação dessa trajetoria de mudança com duas possíveis vias de influencia do nicho ecológico sobre a trajetoria de mudança comportamental que da origem ao uso de ferramentas de percussão para quebra de frutos encapsulados em macacos-prego (Sapajus libidinosus). Em primatas, os aspectos físicos e sociais (isto é, artefatos: martelos, bigornas e restos de cocos, e o comportamento dos coespecíficos) canalizam as oportunidades individuais de aprendizagem, permitindo maiores níveis de manipulação de objetos apropriados em contextos apropriados para o surgimento do uso de ferramentas e facilitando a exploração de várias fontes de forrageamento. Por tanto, procuramos determinar o papel de duas variáveis específicas de influência de nicho construídas: reuso dos artefatos e scrounging, no processo de desenvolvimento do repertório manipulativo em um grupo silvestre de macacos-prego (Sapajus libidinosus). Especificamente: 1) Como é a trajetória de mudança na atração e reutilização de artefatos relacionados ao craqueamento de noz (martelos, bigornas e cascas de nozes) e como isso se relaciona com o surgimento de ferramentas de percussão; E, 2) Como relaciona-se o scrounging, no contexto da quebra de frutos, com a emergencia de habilidades manipulativas adequadas para a quebra de frutos encapsulados. Propomos uma pesquisa de campo longitudinal de uma população de macacosprego livres no Brasil, através da observação naturalista. O resultados indicam que não só a idade está relacionada tanto com as mudanças na atração e reuso dos artefatos e com o scrounging, mas também que ambas variaveis estão relacionadas e podem estar em função das mudanças no repertorio manipulative exibido pelos individuos, de tal forma que não só os individuos mais velhos exibem maiores indices de reuso e menores indices de scrounging, como também os indices de variabilidade comportamental e proficiencia na quebra estão intimamente relacionados com os indices de reuso dos artefatos e scrounging / Based on the evidence found in the literature on the development of the use of percussion tools for encapsulated fruit breakage, we propose a project focusing not only \"when\" motor alterations appear, but also on the relation of this trajectory of change with two possible ways of influencing the ecological niche on the trajectory of behavioral change that gives origin to the use of percussion tools to crack nuts in capuchin-monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus). In primates, physical and social aspects (ie, artifacts: hammers, anvils and remains of coconuts, and co-specific behavior) channel individual learning opportunities, allowing greater levels of manipulation of appropriate objects in appropriate contexts for the emergence of use of tools and facilitating the exploration of various foraging sources. Therefore, we sought to determine the role of two niche-specific variables constructed: artifact reuse and scrounging, in the process of developing the manipulative repertoire in a wild group of monkey-prey (Sapajus libidinosus). Specifically: 1) How is the trajectory of change in the attraction and reuse of artifacts related to nut cracking (hammers, anvils and walnut shells) and how does this relate to the emergence of percussion behavior. And, 2) How scrounging is related, in the context of the fruit break, with the emergence of adequate manipulative skills for the breaking of encapsulated fruits. We propose a longitudinal field survey of a population of free monkey-natives in Brazil, through naturalistic observation. The results indicate that not only age is related both to changes in attraction and reuse of artifacts and to scrounging, but also that both variables are related and may be due to changes in the manipulative repertoire exhibited by individuals, such that not only do older individuals exhibit higher reuse rates and lower scrounging rates, but also the indices of behavioral variability and proficiency in the break are closely related to the artifact reuse indices and scrounging